Jonathan Stroud - The Amulet of Samarkand (2003)

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Minor magicians take pains to fit this traditional wizardly bill. By contrast, the really powerful magicians take pleasure in looking like accountants.

Jonathan Stroud
There was a loud cough from the man on the stand. I replaced My Magic Mirror carefully on his tray, gave him a cheesy smile, and went my way.

Jonathan Stroud
The bristling eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. Mesmerized, the boy watched them disappear under the hanging thatch of white hair. There, almost coyly, they remained just out of sight for a moment, before suddenly descending with a terrible finality and weight.

Jonathan Stroud
Perhaps he'd want me to conjure up an illusion. That might be fun: there was bound to be a way of misinterpreting his request and upsetting him†.

Jonathan Stroud
"Too much hate is bad for you," I ventured.
"Why?"
"Um..."

Jonathan Stroud
When I landed on the top of a lamppost in the London dusk it was peeing with rain.

Jonathan Stroud
So I departed, leaving behind a pungent smell of brimstone. Just something to remember me by.

Jonathan Stroud
I had a chance at him now. Things were a bit more even. He knew my name, I knew his. He had six years' experience, I had five thousand and ten. That was the kind of odds that you could do something with.

Jonathan Stroud
In the middle of the lawn was a lake adorned with an ornamental fountain, depicting an amorous Greek god trying to kiss a dolphin.†

Jonathan Stroud
"Woken up, have you?" the woman said. Her voice was like broken glass in an ice bucket.†

Jonathan Stroud
"Remember this." he said in a soft voice. "Demons are very wicked. They will hurt you if they can. Do you understand this?"

Jonathan Stroud
He was transfixed at the sight of the lords and ladies of his realm running about like demented chickens.

Jonathan Stroud
And then, as if written by the hand of a bad novelist, an incredible thing happened.

Jonathan Stroud
No magical alarm sounded, though I did hit my head five times on a pebble†.

Jonathan Stroud
That did it. I'd gone through a lot in the past few days. Everyone I met seemed to want a piece of me: djinn, magicians, humans...it made no difference.I'd been summoned, manhandled, shot at, captured, constricted, bossed about and generally taken for granted. And now, to cap it all, this bloke is joining in too, when all I'd been doing was quietly trying to kill him.

Jonathan Stroud
"I'm Martha. And you are...?"
A small snuffle, a smaller voice. "Nathaniel."

Jonathan Stroud
"H-he is a messenger for you. H-h-he brings a message."
"You stagger me, Simpkin! A messenger with a message! Extraordinary."

Jonathan Stroud
"Take that stupid grin off your face," he said. "You're putting me off."
"Sorry." I adopted a hideous expression of malady and woe.
"That's not much better."

Jonathan Stroud
"I know you," he said. "I know your scent. Long ago, yes, but I never forget. I know your name."
"A friend of a friend, perhaps?" I eyed his spear-tip nervously. Unlike Eagle-beak, he didn't wave it about at all.
"No... an enemy..."
"Terrible when you can't remember something that's right on the tip of your tongue," I observed. "Isn't it, though? And you try so hard to recall it, but often as not you can't because some fool's interrupting you, prattling away so you can't concentrate, and-"
Bull-head gave a bellow of rage. "Shut up! I almost had it then!"

Jonathan Stroud
The darkness cloaking my mind lifted. Instantly, I was as alert as ever, crystal-sharp in all my perceptions, a coiled spring ready to explode into action. It was time to escape!
Except it wasn't.

Jonathan Stroud
That's usually how they start, the young ones. Meaningless waffle.

Jonathan Stroud
"I order you, Bartimaeus, to reveal whether you have diligently and wholly carried out your charge-"
"Of course I have - what do you think this is, costume jewelry?"

Jonathan Stroud
The old pain had started up again, throbbing in my chest, stomach, bones. It wasn't healthy to be encased in a body for so long. How humans can stand it without going completely mad, I'll never know.†

Jonathan Stroud
One magician demanded I show him an image of the love of his life. I rustled up a mirror.

Jonathan Stroud